1 Initiative for RECOM Initiative for RECOM 2 Initiative for RECOM INTRODUCTION !Transformation Period Desmond Tutu, a Nobel laureate, renowned South African activist, and retired Anglican archbishop who gained worldwide fame as a steadfast opponent of Apartheid, described the need for the establishment of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in these words: “Unlike the Allies, who after Nuremberg [the war crimes trials following World War II] could pack up and go home, we in South Africa had to continue to live together.” We from the region of the former Yugoslavia, which in the recent past, during the wars and 1 the collapse of the former common state, was the scene of horrific crimes and grave violations of human rights, may repeat Desmond Tutu’s simple statement. To achieve reconciliation, cooperation, progress, and to be free from fear, the truth is a prerequisite. In her article, Nora Ahmetaj warns that from an emotional and psycho-social point of view, a victim does not find peace when the criminal gets convicted, because “the victim and survivor find peace only when their suffering and pain are publicly accepted and recognized.” It is only “when victims, criminals and members of society come together to find a solution, that the results can be transformative.” It is precisely such a transformation that the Initiative for RECOM aims to bring as an independent fact-finding commission on war crimes and serious violations of human rights. The Initiative is presently at a turning point, facing new challenges. After the completion of the consultation process and following the adoption of RECOM’s Draft Statute on March 26, 2011, the Coalition for RECOM launched a new phase, which began as part of a dialogue among civil society organizations, in order to transform the Initiative into a transnational project of transitional justice. And that is the most important task of the new Team of Regional Advocates, which this issue of ! The Voice introduces. The task of the advocates is not easy, but it is encouraging that in their work they can rely not only on the support of 542,660 citizens, who pledged their support to the Initiative with their signature, Initiative for RECOM Initiative for RECOM nor just on the 155 renowned artists and intellectuals from the region who in a separate letter to heads of states in the region supported the establishment of RECOM, but also on the support of more than 1,800 collective or individual members of the Coalition. The Initiative for RECOM boasts respectable international support as well: it has been included in the important Enlargement Strategy of the European Commission, which notes that the Commission, as indicated in section 2.3 of the document, carefully monitors activities like the Initiative for RECOM that enhance regional cooperation and reconciliation, since they are essential for the stability and European integration. The Initiative for RECOM enjoys the unreserved support of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Experts at the New York-based International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) also emphasize the great potential of the Initiative. I have never hurt a fly in my life, nor would I want to. I do not want revenge. I have ... All this because of the most important goal, stated at the I know the people who killed her. All of beginning of the text – to transform our societies by way them. And who did me so much harm. But of the truth, and thus create conditions to live together in that should serve them. peace again. This, ultimately, leads to reconciliation. (Smail Durakovic) Igor Mekina 2 NEWS ABOUT RECOM !Transformation of the Initiative for RECOM into an The task of RECOM is to answer the five journalistic questions about the war: ‘Who, Inter-State Project of Where, When, What and “How’. The ‘Why’ Transitional Justice will be left to historians, sociologists and various interpreters. (Dragoljub Dusko Vukovic) A new challenge has emerged for the Coalition for RECOM: the transformation of the Initiative for RECOM from a civil response to the difficult legacy of the past, into an interstate project of transitional justice. This task of transformation will be carried out by the Team of Regional Advocates (TRA), which includes the university professors Zarko Puhovski, Zdravko Grebo, Initiative for RECOM Initiative for RECOM and Biljana Vankovska, theater and film directorDino Mustafic, journalists Igor Mekina, Dinko Gruhonjic and Dusko Vukovic, and Natasa Kandic, a human rights defender. Team members from Kosovo are currently being selected. The consultation process on a regional approach to establishing the facts about war crimes was completed with the adoption of RECOM’s Draft Statute on March 26, 2011. The new TRAs were presented to the Coalition for RECOM on April 11, 2011 at a meeting in Zagreb, which was assembled to plan new activities and strategies that will contribute to the institutionalization of the Initiative for RECOM. Zarko Puhovski and Dino Mustafic emphasized that the regional team of advocates, during its meetings with politicians in the region, will insist on the goals and objectives contained in the Draft Statute of RECOM, and that the views of the Coalition for RECOM will be sought for any modification or different approach in any country in the region. !Who are the Members of the Team 3 of Regional Advocates? Zarko Puhovski (Croatia) Zarko Puhovski has been Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Zagreb since 1975. He taught at universities in Berlin, Frankfurt, London, Brighton, Celovec (Klagenfurt) and Valencia as a visiting and guest professor. He is a member of the Council of the Ethicon Institute in Los Angeles, and a Scientific Director of the European Peace University in Stadtschlaining, Austria. He was the editor of a number of journals: Ideas (1970-1973), Cultural Worker (1971- Initiative for RECOM Initiative for RECOM 1982), Praxis (1973-1975), Teka (1975), and Philosophical Research (1980-1986). He is a co- founder and program founder of the first alternative political organizations in Yugoslavia, UJDI (Association for Yugoslav Democratic Initiative) in 1988, and of the Croatian Helsinki Committee (CHC) in 1993. He was awarded with European Club of Rectors Extraordinary Award for Peace and against Xenophobia in 1993. Zdravko Grebo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Zdravko Grebo is a Professor of Theory of Law at the Law School in Sarajevo. He was the 4 founder of the city radio ZID and the ZID publishing company, both of which operated during the siege of Sarajevo. Professor Grebo is also Director of the International Graduate School in European Studies at the Law School in Sarajevo. He was awarded the European Club of Rectors Extraordinary Award for Peace and against Xenophobia, the Roosevelt medal and the French Légion d’honneur. Grebo is known for challenging the “political truth” and for his belief in facts. Dino Mustafic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Dino Mustafic is a Bosnian film and theater director. He is a Director of the International Theatre Festival MESS, in Sarajevo. He has directed documentaries, music programs and plays. His first feature film Remake, based on an idea by Zlatko Topcic, was premiered at the International Film Initiative for RECOM Initiative for RECOM Festival in Rotterdam in 2003, where it was selected as one of the five best films of the Festival. Also in 2003, Mustafic’s Remake scooped the Best Debut Film and the Best Actor awards in San Francisco and in Munich it won the One Future Award. Dino Mustafic works in Sarajevo, Mostar, Skopje, Prishtina/Prishtinë, Belgrade, Zagreb, Rijeka, Ljubljana, Maribor, Trieste, Sofia, and elsewhere across the region. His plays are being performed across the region of the former Yugoslavia, as well as at festivals in Germany, Egypt, Italy, Spain, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and in other locations around the world. Biljana Vankovska (Macedonia) Biljana Vankovska is a Professor 5 of Political Science and Military Law at the Department of Security, Defense and Peace, Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Skopje, and lectures in the Department of Sociology and Social Work. She leads the Masters Program in Peace and Development, and teaches graduate classes in European Studies. She is a Fellow at the European Institute of Peace (Stadtschlaining, Austria), and was a guest lecturer at the Geneva Center for Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) 2001-2002, as well as at the Copenhagen Peace Research Institute 1997-2000. Since 1999 she has been an international consultant for the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Studies in Lund, Sweden. Professor Vankovska has published nine books and over a hundred articles, most of them in English. She is a member of several international associations, such as the Research Committee on Armed Forces and Security (IPSA), ISA, IPRA, EuPRA, IUS on the armed forces and security and ERGOMAS. In her scholarly work she is focused on civil-military relations, security in the Balkans, international relations and peace building. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Security Dialogue journal and an editor of several other international journals. Initiative for RECOM Initiative for RECOM Igor Mekina (Slovenia) Igor Mekina is a journalist and publicist from Ljubljana, Slovenia, a regular contributor to the weekly Mladina and a columnist for a number of Slovenian magazines and electronic media outlets. He is a director of the NGO Civic Link, which was the first in Slovenia, back in 1994, to regognise the category of ‘erased’ citizens. Meina was the first to write about the issue critically in an edition of the weekly Mladina. Igor Mekina began his journalism career at Radio Student in Ljubljana in 1986. Since 1988 he has been an investigative reporter for Mladina, and he reported for the magazine from all areas of the former Yugoslavia, before and after its break-up.